1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention is data processing, or, more specifically, methods, apparatuses, and computer program products for extending cache in a multi-processor computer.
2. Description Of Related Art
For improved performance and scalability, processors within a multi-processor computer may be interconnected, such as by a point-to-point high-speed bus. In such architectures, each processor package typically has a dedicated point-to-point connection to another processor package and also to a set of memory modules. To reduce the silicon footprint of the memory modules, the cache memories may have limited capacity. Such capacity limitations on the amount of data a cache can store could potentially lead to increased cache misses resulting in a significant performance loss. The primary contributor to the performance loss is increased latency time to access the computer's memory in the event of a cache miss. As such, the utilization of the space available in the cache memories of the processors directly impacts the performance of the multi-computer system.